


The Ritual

by Trickster_Angel



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Bonding, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-24
Updated: 2014-01-24
Packaged: 2018-01-09 17:43:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1148962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trickster_Angel/pseuds/Trickster_Angel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor is left in the clothes of his predecessor. Clara helps him pick a new outfit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Ritual

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wynnebat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wynnebat/gifts).



> Not brit-picked. All mistakes are my own.

One thing Clara couldn’t deny, the Doctor was particular. She’d seen every regeneration he’d been through and every one had to find the perfect outfit. Whether or not it actually looked good on him was another story. If she had to guess, he’d probably never consulted anyone on his outfit. She assumed that if he had, he definitely wouldn’t have walked around in that Technicolor nightmare for as long as he had.

So it was a little surprising that this version of the Doctor had grabbed her hand and dragged her off to a large dressing room.

“Wait here,” he said, running inside. She knew what was going on but was still confused. She had assumed this was some sacred Doctor ritual that was to remain private. Did he trust her that much? Did he value her opinion enough to show her his outfit ideas?

“Clara!” she heard him call after a minute.

“Yes Doctor?”

He walked out in black trousers, a black shirt, and a blue suit jacket over it. “What do you think?” he asked proudly, presenting his outfit for evaluation. He had such a happy grin on his face. Clara looked over it once, keeping quiet as she did.

Once the Doctor looked in a mirror, his smile faded.

“Too boring,” the Doctor said before Clara could respond. He started to shrug off the suit jacket just as he disappeared inside the dressing room.

Clara waited patiently for him to return as she was curious. She couldn’t quite remember what this Doctor had settled on. She half wanted to step inside the dressing room just to see how many choices he had. She could only imagine.

“Clara?”

“Yes?”

The Doctor stepped out again, in a completely different outfit. This time he wore a gray cardigan, blue trousers, white shirt, brown tie and a long green scarf.

“This one is much better,” he said, moving to the mirror to admire his masterpiece.

Clara thought it made him look older. Granted he was probably thousands of years old but that wasn’t an excuse. She thought his current body appeared to be fifty-something and with the cardigan, she didn’t think it looked flattering.

“No,” he said before she could, “I look so old.” He walked back inside, ripping the scarf off as he did. Clara started to wonder why he wanted her there, as he hadn’t heard her opinion once yet.

The Doctor stepped out a moment later, dressed in pretty much the same outfit. This time, the cardigan was gone and so was the tie. He wore a purple waistcoat and the same ridiculous scarf. He’d rolled the sleeves up to his elbows.

“Much better without the cardigan,” the Doctor said happily and Clara agreed. This outfit definitely had the opposite effect of the previous one. Once he saw the ensemble together, his face crumpled in disappointment.

“I don’t like the color,” the Doctor mused, pulling on his waistcoat.

“Don’t you have more? Couldn’t you just find one of some other color?” Clara spoke for the first time since the whole ordeal had started.

“No, it won’t work. Have to scrap the whole thing,” he said, leaving Clara again. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes. The Doctor was a drama queen too. It seemed to never leave his personality.

“What about this one?” The Doctor asked as he walked out. This ensemble was different. He wore a long grey coat which reminded Clara of his tenth incarnation’s brown coat. His trousers were the same color of the coat. He also wore a white shirt and blue and brown waistcoat.

“It looks familiar,” she said honestly.

The Doctor evaluated his reflection for a few seconds before saying, “You’re right.” He left again for the dressing room.

At this point, Clara just wanted him to pick something. She enjoyed the Doctor’s company and was happy that he had invited her but she’d been pretty useless so far and he seemed perfectly capable of evaluating his own choices.

“This one is perfect,” he said before he emerged. Clara’s jaw almost hit the ground. This one was, by far, the oddest one yet. Now he had on a black and red coat with a white speckled shirt and black trousers.

“Doctor,” she said disapprovingly.

“What?” he asked genuinely, as if he wasn’t looking at the same outfit she was, “Don’t you like it?”

“Um,” she didn’t really have the heart to say no. He had looked so happy until she’d opened her mouth. Now he looked like a kicked puppy.

“Maybe you’re right,” he agreed once he was in front of the mirror.

Once he was gone she whispered, “Thank goodness.”

After five minutes of waiting, Clara wondered if he had exhausted all his options. Certainly, he had the pieces of his previous outfits not to mention anything he had collected over the years. There had to be thousands of combinations sitting in that dressing room and he couldn’t find one that actually suited him.

At ten minutes, Clara debated going in and dragging him in whatever he was wearing. She was absolutely bored and even the excitement of him wanting her opinion had faded. Now she just wanted to go somewhere and do something. He was a new man after all. With a whole new regeneration cycle it was time to show off his new self to the universe.

After fifteen minutes, Clara called out, “You alright Doctor?”

“Just deciding Clara,” he yelled back, “Won’t be a minute.”

Thankfully, he hadn’t lied to her. But when he stepped out, Clara was more surprised by his newest outfit than by all the others. It was exactly the same as his eleventh incarnation’s outfit, only the bow-tie was missing. He had literally put back on what he had been wearing before they’d started the whole thing.

“Doctor, why didn’t you change?” she asked.

“I think this one suits me best,” he said proudly, looking in the mirror.

“You said that about the left five outfits,” she argued, hoping he’d change again. It was very odd to see him in the same clothes he’d worn before. They reminded her of a man she’d lost. Technically she was still with the Doctor but he wasn’t the same. She didn’t know if that was a good or a bad thing but at that moment, she missed the eleventh Doctor. 

“Feeling nostalgic?” she asked morosely.

The Doctor seemed to miss her sad tone. “I think my previous self had good taste in clothes. Except for that awful bow-tie.” Clara laughed in spite of herself. At least they could agree on that much.

“Thank you for your help Clara,” the Doctor said. Together, they went back to the control room. “Where to now?”

“Anywhere,” Clara replied. She was ready for some new adventures with her new Doctor. 

**Author's Note:**

> My explanation as to why we've only seen Twelve in Eleven's clothes. I'm anxious for new promo pics. 
> 
> Outfits I described, in order, can be found here:
> 
> http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2013/08/doctor-who-peter-capaldi-announced-as-the-twelfth-doctor/
> 
> http://geekynerfherder.blogspot.com/2013/08/and-twelfth-doctor-is.html
> 
> http://obvious-fandom-reference.tumblr.com/post/72904593274/oswaldz-i-just-really-need-them-to-have-a
> 
> http://downthetubes.ning.com/photo/the-twelfth-doctor-by-rachael-stott
> 
> http://mikemcelwee.deviantart.com/art/The-Twelfth-Doctor-396909734
> 
> http://comicbook.com/blog/2014/01/07/doctor-who-first-images-of-peter-capaldi-as-the-new-doctor/
> 
> *Edit: Guess now my fic's an au. Of course we get the promo pic I wrote this for four days after I write it. *shakes fist* Curse you BBC! But in all seriousness, I love the new outfit and thank God for new promo pics.
> 
> Here's a link to the new outfit: http://obvious-fandom-reference.tumblr.com/post/74792064566/rak1954-peter-capaldis-costume-for-doctor-who


End file.
